


To Discover Love

by MoonlightKlance



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Cross Posted On Instagram, How Do I Tag, I'm Bad At Tagging, M/M, Mer fic, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Burn, klance, mer!Keith
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-23
Updated: 2020-02-26
Packaged: 2020-12-31 14:10:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21147041
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MoonlightKlance/pseuds/MoonlightKlance
Summary: Lance, Pidge, and Hunk go explore a new island discovered by the Holt family. They're looking to discover a new species on a bet, but Pidge is looking for her family. Rather than a new species, Lance finds love where he least expects it.I'm bad at summaries but I'm needy for Mer!Keith.





	1. o n e

**Author's Note:**

> Cross-Posted on my Instagram (starrymoonlightklance) if you want more Klance content and faster updates.

Lance stared down at the pale, yellow-blue bottom of the sea, toes dipping into the water as he watched the fish dart around curiously beneath the dock.

He loved the ocean, teeming with life unseen and undiscovered, fueling his curiosity to explore beyond the murky depths. The sound of the crashing waves was his favorite melody, the siren song that led him to the sea day after day.

“Lance, are you just gonna sit there, or are you gonna help us?” Pidge prompted as she braced a cardboard box of beakers on her hip, pausing her movements to persistently bother Lance into at least carrying one box.

Honestly, it was the least he could do, considering she finally caved into letting him drive the boat after the last incident.

She just hoped he wouldn’t crash the boat this time around.

It was almost as if he hadn’t heard her, his lack of response making it clear.

Pidge nudged Lance with the tip of her sneaker, nearly pushing him off the dock when he bent down to skim his fingers along the ocean’s surface.

“Whoa!” Lance let out a cry of surprise as he went to catch himself, going through all five stages of grief in a near-frantic stumble to press his hands back onto the dock. He was hoping to balance his weight once more, gripping the wood until his knuckles went white. “Pidge! Careful!”

Pidge laughed, Hunk trailing past with a stifled chuckle as he climbed into the boat and set down a box that clinked like wind chimes.

The two twenty-something-year-olds made light of the situation, and Lance groaned in response, rolling his eyes.

“I wouldn’t need to be ‘careful’ if you actually helped us load the boat for the trip, rather than sit there making goo-goo eyes at your water girlfriend,” she joked, passing down the box of glass tubes to Hunk so she could grab her microscope.

The Cuban made a vague noise that implied offense, but the rest of the group ignored it with a practiced ease. It nearly had Lance huffing in even more mock-annoyance.

“Here, Lance,” Shiro tried to ignore the creaking wood that haunted his steps like a forlorn ghost as he crossed the dock. His stomach churned at the thought of the water-logged word collapsing beneath him and submerging him in deep blue.

He handed Lance the stack of materials they would need for any resting on board and smiled.

“Bring this onto the boat while I grab the rest of your things for the trip.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to come with us, Shiro? You know the others wouldn’t be opposed to you changing your mind last minute,” Lance asked one last time despite all the almost-begging he had done the entire past week.

He felt a bit hopeful with his request, even though he had been turned down countless times before.

“Yeah,” Shiro gave a reassuring smile while his hand drifted up to rub away the ache of his shoulder, the memory of his missing arm bringing a brief wave a pain.

Lance wanted to wince when he remembered the accident; a groundbreaking dive with sharks in hopes of repairing people’s broken preconceptions of them.

It was the first dive Shiro had done without a cage, and he was thrilled.

All had been going well up until one of the sharks got a little too excited by the sinking bait and tore through Shiro’s wetsuit, taking all of his arm below the shoulder with it. He hadn’t been on the water since.

All of a sudden, Lance felt guilty for asking.

Shiro passed off the box, and Lance braced it against his chest to balance the weight. Shiro chuckled when he saw the sorrowful look on his friend’s face.

“Don’t worry, Lance. As much as I want to go, Adam and I have wedding preparations to attend to, not to mention I get really seasick.”

“Alright,” Lance responded with the best grin he could give, although it still seemed half-hearted; eyebrows pinched at the center of his forehead with awkward understanding. “Sorry for asking again, though. I shouldn’t have brought it up, considering...”

He didn’t want to finish; afraid of the words cementing the truth in his head even though the pain wasn’t his to deal with.

“Don’t even worry about it,” Shiro chuckled and gave Lance a gentle pat on the back, urging him toward the boat. “It doesn’t even bother me anymore.”

Lance could tell he was lying; it was always on his mind, and everyone knew, but he didn’t say anything, lips pressed into a thin line.

He stepped down onto the boat with a lingering glance at Shiro, searching the older man’s face for cracks in his facade. Nothing.

He slipped into the lower hull with the box without another word.


	2. t w o

“Finally helping, huh?” Pidge offered a playful smirk to soften her words, watching as Lance hefted the surprisingly heavy - and ridiculously large - box into the lower hull with a subtle misstep. 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Lance huffed, narrowly avoiding the box with a quick step back as he set it down. “I’ve been helping all day!”

“You spent like an hour staring at the water while Pidge and I loaded boxes,” Hunk responded with a gentle sigh, on his knees to rearrange some of the beakers for better protection.

“I got up early to prep the sub! I earned a break.”

“What kind of prep work does a mini-sub need, anyway?” 

“Not nearly as much work as Lance is making it out to be, considering all the important bits were checked and stabilized about a W before today,” Pidge answered, checking off the list they had compiled for the trip. “He probably just glanced it over and decided it was good enough.”

“Well, I re-checked it...” Lance trailed off, voice getting quieter as he continued. “Anyway, are you sure you’ll be okay on this trip, Hunk?”

“I’m kinda hoping the motion sickness pills work this time...” Hunk replied with a nervous chuckle, “besides, it’s too late to quit now, we’re already packed for the trip.”

“In short, he’s way too excited to give up,” Pidge nudged Hunk’s side with her elbow, “but really, we all are. It’s not often this type of opportunity arises for  _ anyone _ , so we’re really lucky. We’re literally on the verge of a life-changing discovery! We might be able to find an entirely new species altogether!”

“I know!” Hunk bounced on his toes, “I’m jealous Lance is the only one who gets to go down to see the reef, but at least we get live feedback. You set up the camera, right Pidge?”

“Of course!” She pushed her glasses up on her nose, the light of the lower hull reflecting off the lenses almost like they would’ve in a cartoon. “We are  _ not  _ missing out on that even if there’s only one sub. Besides, we’ll finally be discovering if my theory is correct.”

“Didn’t you make a bet with Doctor Iverson about this?” Lance raised a curious eyebrow.

“Yep, and Doctor Iverson will have to admit that I was right and renovate my lab to my desired specifications.”

“I can’t believe you coaxed him into that wager. What if you’re wrong, Pidge?” Hunk worried aloud, holding his hands together in soothing self-comfort. “Are you really gonna be forced to work somewhere else if you’re wrong?”

“Trust me, Hunk. I know what I’m doing. I researched this topic for  _ months  _ before I even brought the bet to his attention,” Pidge gave her friend’s shoulder a reassuring pat, “I was at least ninety percent positive that my calculations were correct, and even now the number raises as more evidence presents itself in my studies. I even had conclusive evidence to back my claims. The last piece of the puzzle is this trip to locate a living specimen.”

Lance nodded, “besides, Pidge would never let Doctor Iverson get the better of her. She’d quit her job before she let him beat her at anything. Really.”

“Not to mention, even if we came back empty-handed this time around,” Pidge started leading her friends back to the dock as she spoke, “Doctor Iverson is aware that what we’re looking for is a very rare species - theoretically - and should be intelligent enough to let us search at least a few more times before making us throw in the towel. However, finding it on the first try would be a brilliant thing to rub in his face.”

Lance watched as Pidge lifted one of the last few boxes on the dock, bracing it on her hip to address the boys. 

“Anyway, are you two gonna help me finish loading the boat, or am I gonna have to make this life-changing discovery on my own?”


End file.
